Rockies Start Fast, Hold On For 7-4 Victory Over Padres

You usually know what you're going to get with Petco Park. Namely, 3-2 or 2-1 soul-crushing defeats. This time, I for one was surprised by the outcome, a 7-4 barnburner. Then again, baseball is weird. I mean, Colorado's starter lasted just as long as San Diego's starter. Not that it meant that Tyler Chatwood had a good outing, mind you.

The Rockies jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first on a barrage of 6 hits. Okay, so two of them were infield singles, but whatever. Staked to that 5 run lead, Chatwood promptly loaded the bases and gave up an opposite field grand slam to Yasmani Grandal in the bottom half of the frame. Classic Chatwood, am I right?

In any case, Chatwood made it through 3 2/3 innings (he allowed 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 4) without allowing any more damage, and the five relievers that followed managed to keep the Padres off the board as well.

On offense, Chris Nelson went 3-4 with a solo homer (9) in the 3rd that gave Colorado some breathing room. He finished a triple short of the cycle. Carlos Gonzalez had 4 of the Rockies' 14 hits, all of them singles, as well as 2 steals to make him the first Colorado player with 3 straight 20-20 seasons. Wilin Rosario had two hits including a two run double to push his OBP up to that magic .300 line and Charlie Blackmon added a solo shot, his first of the year.

Two Items That Prove I Actually Watched This Game

1. The San Diego mascot (swinging friar) totally did that Dinger thing (except the home team was pitching) in the top of the 7th, standing behind home plate and celebrating an inning ending strikeout. Can we start a letter writing campaign please?

2. Rex Brothers' 7th inning was celebrated as the XCel Energy High Efficiency Inning. Brothers threw 17 pitches in the inning. The MLB average for pitches in an inning is roughly 16, so Brothers was less efficient than average.

Source: FanGraphs

We Salute: Nelson (.151 WPA), Rosario (.122), Gonzalez (.110)

We Are Disappointed In: Chatwood (-.171)

Roll Call: Roxman4ever, ES46NE10, Greg Stanwood, zmiko, papality (most prolific), DumbAndNerdy, SDcat09, Rox the Casbah, Chrysicat, Sjamb, RockyMountainWay91, free7694, WanderingRoxFan, Nick95, roxintober, holly96, CentralCaliRox, Andrew Martin, Nephelimdream, The Lodo Magic Man, RhodeIslandRoxfan, Paleface Destro, Oldfoagie, nightninja13
Total Users: 24
Total Posts: 1288
Total Threads: 1

Panda Rating: Happy Panda